Eternal Light
by The Wayfaring Strangers
Summary: The song invades my stillness. A wordless melody shatters the silence, a dark voice, a sad voice... And slowly, from the shadows, the singer spins his song. I should go, and leave this, come home to Prim... But as words emerge from the echoes, I am transfixed. A chance encounter between the Songbird and the Girl on Fire. Revised 8/11/12.


_The words of Maglor's song are from Mozart's Requiem. It is Latin, if it is not obvious...  
_

* * *

I am alone.

For once, I am alone.

Trudging along the cold, crusty path between the Hob and Victors' Village, only the stars keep me company. I tip back my head to look at them, shining high and hard and distant above our world. Maybe they watch over us... I see Snow's snake eyes in my head. No, they cannot care. The angry wind stings my face and I mentally slap myself for thinking such childish thoughts. My breath swirls away on the frigid air. How could lifeless balls of ice care for us? My boot comes down angrily on the frozen ground. _Just relax for minute_, I tell myself. _ Be alone. Be still..._

Then the song invades my stillness. It comes from the Hob, behind me. A wordless melody shatters the silence, the singer obviously male. A dark voice, a sad voice... And slowly, from the shadows, the singer spins his song. I should go, and leave this, come home to Prim... But as words emerge from the echoes, I am transfixed.

_Requiem aeternam dona eis,  
et lux perpetua luceat eis..._

The words roll over me, sonorous and ancient. It is language completely alien to me, but the deep sorrow woven into the words is unmistakeable. Who is there, here in 12, who could ever sing like that? I retrace my steps, quiet in the deep snow...then stop short. He is standing before me, as a turn around a bend. The singer falters, and I find myself face to face with him. He gazes at me, seeming somehow unstartled. He is tall, his skin so pale that his face seems to glow - but it is a fading glow. And I see that his proud and noble face is tired and worn and defeated beneath his dark brows. I know that look. He is not old - but neither is he young. Something about his eyes. Like the Victors who have lost everything, but deeper, prouder, older...

Suddenly, I realize: he cannot be human. I am afraid. I take a step backward, but my boot catches on the broken ground. I totter, and he reaches out a strong hand and grasps my arm, murmuring, "I didn't mean to-"

I jerk away. His eyes fill with concern. He sighs, I scowl. His long, shadowy hair blows in the wind. His voice breaks the frozen silence, "Why do you fear me so?" He looks down. "Or do all in Arda revile me..."

I relax. He may be a rebel, he may crazy, he may be fey wanderer - but he _isn't_ a mutt or a Capitol agent. I don't know why I know, I just _know_. And one question fills my mind -

"What does it mean? What do the words mean?"

His eyes widen for a moment and then he begins to chant, in a voice so low I can barely hear.

_Grant them eternal rest,  
and let unending Light shine on them..._

He stops and looks at me, his gray eyes bright. I take a step forward as anger rises in me. How can he sing these things? How can he say there will be light and hope? I try to speak, but my voice catches in my throat, and I swallow thickly.

"Who can give us Light and rest?" I choke out. I see Rue, cold and still beneath her white flowers, I see Peeta, bloodied and broken, I see my mother, lost and distant -

I see gray eyes gazing into my own. "All the candles have not gone out..."

"What do you mean?" How can he say that? How can he understand-

"My six brothers and all I hold dear were destroyed in the flames of a mad man's oath," he murmurs. "I alone am left in a world grown cold..."

For some strange reason, I believe the singer. I shiver. He smiles at me, just the ghost of a smile.

"Look to the stars. They will not go out until the End."

I turn to his face and gaze at him, questions beginning to fill my mind again. One spills out.

"Are you an angel?"

He laughs softly, a sad and lonely laugh, aand shakes his dark head. "No more than all my people. And poor, fallen angels we would have made... No, look to the stars - they will give you more hope."

And I ask no more questions.

So I tilt my head back again, and gaze at the heavens. They shine down to me now, almost echoing the angel's song. Here is that light... _Not so cold, not so distant... _

And I remember, oh-so- faintly, a story my father told me, years and years, and years ago. The story of a sailor, who rides forever in the night sky, keeping watch over our world. I never quite believed him - until now. No, all the candles have not gone out...

I turn to back the nameless singer, but he is gone. And somehow, I know that I will never see him again. I look down, and see that he has left no footsteps in the faintly shining snow. In this moment, I realize that it could be only a dream, forgotten between the daylight and the nightfall. But somehow, I cannot bring myself to believe that. The singer and his words will stay with me, I think. And as I turn on my way, back to Prim, and the life I'm living, a song spills from my lips -

___Grant them eternal rest,  
and let unending Light shine on them..._  


The candles will burn a bit longer.

_Finis._

* * *

_Alright, that's been in my head since I read Mockingjay. It's set in that book, if you're wondering. And my view of how Maglor got into the picture is that, since Panem is North America in the future, and the generally accepted fan view is that Middle Earth is our world's distant past, the two could possibly collide - to the glee of at least one fanwriter... :D This isn't meant to be romance in any way, and for obvious reasons, I am neither Tolkien nor Collins. By the way, this is my first crossover, so any feedback on that would be greatly appreciated. :)  
_

_~RandomCelt  
_


End file.
